Drive Leads with 6 Critical Web Design Elements

There is a lot you can do to drive traffic to your B2B website: on-page search engine optimization (SEO), promoting it on social media channels, search engine marketing (SEM), display ads, direct mailers, and email campaigns, just to name a few.

However, what good is all that great visitor traffic if your website if you aren’t getting any new leads?

While the purpose of a website is not solely to drive leads, it’s often the most tangible ROI of any B2B website. For this very reason, it’s critical that any B2B firm’s website is maximized for lead generation. Below are six tips to start driving more website leads.

Intuitive Layout

Recently, we explored critical considerations for digital marketing and usability along with how this impacts the perception of your brand. It’s essential that your B2B website layout is intuitive, easy to navigate, and prioritizes things your prospects and clients care about.

If your firm’s contact information and access to the products and services you offer are the main concern for prospects, put those at the top of the page. If articles discussing how your products are best utilized or a demo of your products are important to your potential clients, make those very easy to find.

There is no one best layout for a B2B website (hence why template websites aren’t ideal), but the main rule is that you don’t want your users to have to hunt for information. Make everything easy to find and enable users to get to information within one to two clicks.

Clear, Concise Copy

Get to the point and get there fast. You only have a limited amount of time to reach a potential client and show them the value of your products or services. This does not mean that you can’t weave a story, but it does mean you can’t mince words. It also means that you must be selective about what you include on the homepage and other pages. Be sure to prioritize the main benefits or values of your products or services at the very start of your copy.

Working with an experienced, professional copywriter is a great way to achieve this goal. The copywriter can take your input and expertise and finesse it into concise copy that entices prospects to convert.

Compelling CTAs

A variety of compelling calls-to-action on a B2B website are crucial for driving leads. Don’t leave it up to the user to figure out what they should do next – instead, guide them on what to do next. Prompt them to schedule a consultation, take a product demo, see what customers are saying, read your blog posts, or view your product catalog. Make sure your CTAs are designed to convert visitors. Speak to their needs in your CTAs.

Trust Elements

To convert website visitors into new leads, you need to first build credibility and create trust in your brand. People are more likely to trust you if they feel like they know you. A great trust element to add to your website is actual pictures and short bios of your leaders and employees. Do not use stock imagery for these elements. Use actual pictures or professional photos taken of your employees.

Another great way to invite prospects to get to know you is by sharing images and stories of your company. Share any events your company hosts, pictures of your company’s softball team, holiday parties, company BBQs or birthday celebrations in the office. Humanizing your company can go a long way to build trust in your brand.

Third-Party Validation

You can say you’re the best at what you do, but many of your competitors may be saying the same thing. A B2B website can showcase third party validation by listing awards or including certification badges on the website. Has your CEO written articles that have been published in industry trade magazines? That’s third-party validation and should be showcased on the website. Make sure the validation sources you use are credible and related to your industry. Never make up third-party validation since this can be easily ferreted out and will significantly hurt your firm’s reputation.

Client Reviews & Experiences

Prospects want to know what it is like to be a client or partner of yours before they start a conversation with you. Client reviews or testimonials are a great way to show (not tell) prospects what it is like to be your client. This can come in the form of reviews listed on the website, quotes of reviews left on third-party review sites like Yelp, or in longer-form content like case studies and white papers.

A Lead Generation Tool

A B2B website can be a great lead generation tool when carefully designed. Use the elements listed here to entice website visitors to complete desired actions on your website.

Kara Jensen is the Creative Principal of Bop Design, a B2B marketing and web design & development firm based in San Diego, CA. Dedicated to communicating each client’s unique business value, Kara forges connections with target markets through strategic design and high-impact marketing concepts. Kara has 10 years of… View full profile ›